NZXT Tempest Case Review :: NZXT Tempest Exterior

The Input Output area of the Tempest case is located on the top of the case. The IO area has two audio jacks for the Front Panel IO, two USB 2.0 ports, an external SATA port, the Power and Reset buttons. External SATA is a welcome addition to a case as SATA drives have taken over for IDE drives in every facet of the computer including HDDs and optical drives for DVDs or Blu Rays.

IO

Top view

140mm fans

Front view

The front of the case has a mesh cover for the various drives. There are three 5.25" drive bays by default but that is a bit deceptive as there is room for six 5.25" drives if you remove one of the 3.25" drive racks. In total there are 9 drive bays but six are used for 3.5" drive racks to hold up to eight HDDs. Each 3.5" rack has a 120mm fan in front of it that glows blue in operation. The top panel has a sort of triangular pattern that along with the IO carries the mounting positions for two 140mm fans.

3/4 Side view

Side view

Door open

Fan

The side panel of the case has a transparent window with an odd shape. Most cases have rectangular shaped windows but this case has a trapezoidal shaped window with a 120mm fan on the side. This fits into the geometric pattern that this case has throughout including the top front, and sides of the case. The 120mm fan glows blue when in operation.

Left side

rear

Front off

2 front 120mm fans

The rear of the case is fairly common for a Med-Tower ATX case. There are 7 expansion slots on the case to hold PCI devices in place. Two rubber holes for a water cooling unit are next to the bottom most expansion slot. There is a grill for another 120mm fan next to the IO area, meaning that this case has a lot of airflow, 6 fans in fact. The PSU is mounted on the bottom of the case allowing the use of a long PSU if needed.